


New Kill Leader

by FlowersForAliens



Series: Tough Situations - Apex Character Studies [1]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Post Revenant's release, slightly more violent than canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24784810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowersForAliens/pseuds/FlowersForAliens
Summary: Wraith had been in the games for a long time. Long enough to see dozens of legends come and go. Long enough to know it took a lot to leave a lasting impression on the audience. Every competitor thought they’d change the game, but few actually did.Revenant was different.'You're not safe here.'
Series: Tough Situations - Apex Character Studies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792663
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	New Kill Leader

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the first fic I've published in a very long time. I'll try and keep the notes brief to just get into it! I'm going to make this part of a series of brief character studies. Mostly of the legends in unpleasant situations because their pain fuels me.
> 
> Some universe headcanons I subscribe to and utilize in this fic:  
> \- There are other legends outside of the core 12, but the 12 are the most popular / successful in the arena. This is based on that one interview with Caustic where he talks about people copying his methods.  
> \- What happens in the ring holds no (major) physical consequences because of the Respawn system. Devs haven’t really disclosed how it works, so I'll probably come up with something else later.  
> \- In Wraith’s profile, it states that only Simulacrums and Titans could use the phase shift ability in Titanfall, which is why Revenant is aware of the technology.

Wraith had been in the games for a long time. Long enough to see dozens of legends come and go. Long enough to know it took a lot to leave a lasting impression on the audience. Every competitor thought they’d change the game, but few actually did. 

Octane was a hype man. His energy and banter spurred a competitive streak among some of the legends, especially Ajay and Elliot. He also had a very punchable face. 

Everyone knew Natalie before she joined the games. She was the genius behind the ring system, and the opposite of the kind of person Wraith expected from that world. She was smart and bubbly in the face of even the most unpleasant opponents. 

Even Crypto had made a splash. Of course, there was no documented correlation between his debut and the Repulsor Tower falling. But a new legend, a new planet, a new ring, all in one month - it’s hard to overlook. 

Revenant was different. His entrance was quiet, and his play style was intense. Off putting. There was no small talk to be had with him, despite even Pathfinder’s best efforts. His appearance set off alarms in Wraith’s head as if the drop ship was a battlefield. 

_You’re not safe here._

They were five games into the season. So far Revenant was Champion three times, and Kill Leader in all five. With every new legend, Bangalore reminded them: “Everyone wants a piece of the FNG.” Revenant had a target on his back from the get go, and his repeated victories only made his defeats more enjoyable. So far, the only legend to outplay him on the battlefield was Caustic.

But Wraith planned on winning this game, so she was playing it safe. It only worked in her favor that she was paired with Pathfinder and Mirage. They worked well together, being some of the longest competing legends. Most importantly, they let her call the shots. 

The dropship entered the ring from the west, cutting straight through the center. Most of the teams dropped around Fragment, aiming for the hot zone at Epicenter or the train stopped at Capital city. Wraith pinged The Dome. It was a long drop that’d put them on the ground late, but it’d be safe and they’d have the loot to themselves. 

The team was fully kitted in under a minute, converging on the platform at the center of the area, leaving them a full two minutes to get to the ring. 

“God, why is this planet so hot?” Elliot whined, springing the last loot box open. Sweat made her bangs stick to her forehead uncomfortably, but she'd rather suffer in silence than commiserate with Elliot.

“And cold! There are all kinds of temperatures on Talos!” Pathfinder offered. His enthusiasm was always refreshing. 

Elliot couldn’t roll his eyes hard enough. Ignoring the MRVN’s statement, he nudged Wraith with his elbow. “At least the big three are reunited once again! Ready to take another championship, right, Wraith?”

Wraith offered half a smile. He was always doing that - prompting her to join the conversation. She knew from experience that the silence was hard for Elliot than for most, and he'd rather fill it with meaningless banter than revel in the peace. Unfortunately, she was a better conversationalist than Pathfinder. 

“Right. So let's hurry up.” She nodded towards the survey beacon on the roof of the building ahead of them. “Path?”

Pathfinder took a few strides ahead of them, grappling his way up the roof. He turned back and offered Wraith a hand up behind him. They never asked why she liked being in the open like that when Pathfinder used the beacons, but she was almost certain they could figure it out. 

“I’ll just stay down here and look pretty, I guess.” Mirage quipped. Wraith rolled her eyes. 

“Lifeline says that’s all you’re good for, Elliot. You must be great at it!”

“Hey! I’m an exc- exepti- I’m a smart guy too!”

That made her smile. 

Scanning the survey beacon was a painfully long seven second process. Pathfinder was tall, and a huge target where he stood, but the information it afforded them was invaluable. 

_You’re being aimed at._

Wraith reacted before the voice finished, turning to grab the MRVN’s arm. “Path get-”

A shot screamed past her head. Pathfinder came clambering to the ground.

Wraith had seen hundreds of allies “die” in the ring. Thousands even. But there was something particularly upsetting about Pathfinder when he was damaged. He never complained when he was injured, like Elliot would have, save for the occasional “Help!” when he was downed and out of view. True to form, he was desperately trying to push himself off the ground, not restrained by pain or fatigue like human competitors were, but rather misfiring connections from the gaping hole in his skull. The circuitry from his optics dangled carelessly from the shredded steel, his eye rotating wildly in an attempt to connect. Hydraulic fluid spilled from the mess of wire and metal to the roof beneath him, dyed red by the sweltering light of the magma. 

She was at his side in an instant - they just had to get off the roof and out of the open. 

  
_Danger! Move!_

Another shot tore through her arm, shattering her shield, and piercing the display on Pathfinder’s chest. The red exclamation mark, an error message that displayed when Pathfinder was injured or malfunctioning, blinked wildly before going black. His banner pinged, notifying Wraith that he was out of the fight. Muscle memory forced her to grab his banner from his wrist and move back at the same time, before fading into the void. 

There was a split second reprieve from the adrenaline the ambush brought her. Different Wraiths - different versions of herself - whirled around her, acting out the infinite ways in which this battle could go wrong for the team. One wraith had taken the bullet meant for Pathfinder, forcing him and Elliot to retreat on his zipline. Another caught the second bullet in the chest, instead of her arm, leaving Elliot alone and presumably outnumbered. Each time, the shot came from the same direction. Multiple voices spoke up at once. _Shooter, there._ Wraith followed the line of sight from Pathfinder’s body, spotting the glint of a sniper scope atop the building directly across from them. That’s what they had to get away from. 

She ducked off the roof and rounded the corner as tightly as she could. Elliot was already holding the door open for her, slamming it shut as she stepped back into their world. They’d won battles with worse odds before, but this time they had no idea where the rest of the attacking team was. 

“I’ll set a portal, we’ll get Path back first.” She stated, opening a portal in front them. 

Mirage complained, as he always did, but readied his weapon. “Yeah, sure. Just leave me here. You have any idea-”

She was already running. Out the door on the opposite side of the building, down the stairs, past the crumbling wall of The Dome, bee-lining to the jump tower. _“If we can just make it there, we’re home free.”_

Elliot's came across her coms. “Wraith! I’m gettin’ shot at!”

The portal was placed, and she turned on her heel, wingman raised in the event that Elliot was being followed. “Mirage? Where are you at? I’m out in the open here!”

No answer.

“Witt! Say something!”

The portal flashed, someone was moving through it, and a tiny wave of relief washed over her. 

The figure who stepped through the portal was not Elliot.

It was the first time Wraith had come face to face with Revenant in the ring. His presence alone was unsettling, even on the drop ship. Like the rest of the legends, he had his corner, barren save for the bed and maintenance devices. Every day they waited for the games, he sat in his corner, spinning a coin between his mechanical fingers with a faint _click click click_ , a motion and expression that was far more human than machine. But towering over her at his full height, cast in a red hue from the plumes of magma behind him, the same mechanical digits plunged into Elliot’s chest cavity, was a completely different experience.

He looked like a monster. 

Wraith’s chest tightened in an unfamiliar way. 

Revenant dropped his arm, Elliot’s body falling to the ground in front of him with a thick thud. His banner skidded a few feet away. 

Amber eyes bore into her. He was a machine, not capable of producing an expression other than the one he was manufactured with. But Wraith swore he was smiling. 

“Didn’t they tell you? I like it when they run.”

His voice raddled in Wraith's head, grinding her nerves worse than she grinded her teeth. She held her wingman up. “You’re just one bot, I’ve fought worse.” 

_Five seconds left before I can phase._

He was quick, producing a P-2020 and pulling the trigger twice. One shot pierce her shoulder, the other into her trigger hand. The force of the hammerpoint rounds knocked her back, her own gun skipping across the gravel like a toy pistol. Without sparing a thought, she prepared to phase. The simulacrum held his hand in her direction, and she was overcome with a strange energy. Her ears buzzed, her limbs tingled unpleasantly. Most importantly, the phase device on her wrist crackled with a red current. It was unresponsive. 

Revenant stepped over Elliot’s body, closing the distance between them, and stooping down to get closer to her eye level. “That’s an interesting trick you’ve got there, Voidwalker.”

_Voidwalker._

Wraith clenched her jaw. 

“I thought only Simulacrums and Titans could do that. Someone must’ve thought you were real special.”

His words chilled her veins like venom, but spurred a red hot anger in her chest. Wraith hated monologues. She hated the theatrics some legends employed in the ring. But more than anything she hated people who thought they knew her. 

“Did you follow me here to kill me or have a chat?” she spat at him. “Cause I’m not the talking type.”

Revenant chuckled. “I like you, Wraith. You’re tough." His words oozed with an entertained tone that made her skin crawl. "I can’t wait to work together.”

His next movement was fast, inhumanly fast. In a blur, he was behind her, one arm curling around her collar. His fingers were sharp, frigid in comparison to the sweltering heat of the magma around them, and _still dripping with Elliot’s blood_. Wraith grimaced when he pressed her face back, facing him at a painful angle. There was a faint hissing in the simulucrum’s chest, like the hiss of a spider before it strikes its prey. 

“This part never gets old.” 

Steel nails dug into the flesh of her chin, sharply twisting her head in the opposite direction.

_Crack._

\----------------

_“There is a new kill leader.”_

The drone of the announcer's voice prompted Wraith to grab for the remote. She turned the TV above the bar off, leaving only the faint buzz of the neon signs in the window of the Paradise Lounge. 

It was late, Elliot was already cleaning up when they got sucked into the footage of their match earlier that week. The memory soured Wraith’s mouth to the appletini sitting between them. 

“Yikes. You said it was bad, but… _yikes._ ” Elliot groaned. “I was so pumped too. Who knows when we’ll all get teamed up again.”

“I thought we did great. We’ll just have to do better next time!”

“Says the guy who went down first.

Wraith was quiet, Elliot and Pathfinder’s banter fading into white noise in the background. Her mind was still on those last few moments, Revenant’s last words before his elimination echoing. 

_“Voidwalker.”_

There was a sinking feeling in her chest, and a voice in her ear telling her to keep her distance. _He’s dangerous. Leave it alone._

But he knew something. That name was too specific. 

“I’d like to have him on my team sometime.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
